RAINBOW SUN PILLAR

 RAINBOW SUN PILLAR

A sharp white sun… and a painted column of color drops straight into the horizon.

What you’re looking at is a sun pillar with iridescent color...a real sky effect that can show up when sunlight hits tiny, flat ice crystals in the air (often in thin high clouds, or very cold air with ice haze). Those crystals act like millions of little mirrors, stacking the light into a vertical beam.
The rainbow tint can happen when the light also gets split and softened by very small droplets/ice crystals (diffraction/refraction), adding those saturated bands.

Why it forms like a “pillar”:

Flat ice crystals drift horizontally
They reflect sunlight toward you
The reflections line up vertically, making a glowing column

Where you can see this:
Your best chances are cold, clear days with thin haze or high clouds—especially across wide open landscapes (prairies, deserts, frozen lakes). Think Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, northern U.S. states, the Rockies foothills, or any winter morning where the air has that “glassy” look.

(Quick safety note: don’t stare into the sun—glance near it and use something to block the disk if you need to.)